Chapter 5 Blood

  After pondering for a good while, Nie Kong still couldn't understand what was going on. Perhaps when he died from the lightning strike, the Demon's game also had some issues, which allowed the seed of the Zi Luo Xian Hua to follow his soul consciousness and come to the Tian Ling Continent, attaching itself to this body.

  Since the seed is already in the lower abdomen and cannot be taken out under current conditions, worrying about it is useless. Whether it's good fortune or bad luck, bad luck can't be avoided.

  After thinking about it, Nie Kong calmed down and continued to focus his mind on observing the situation inside his body.

  As expected, the meridians of this body were all blocked by some green things, which turned out to be solidified spiritual energy. On the surface of the spiritual energy, a large number of white misty substances were densely attached, and Nie Kong could feel that these were the medicinal properties of the spiritual medicines he had taken for over ten years, which had not dissipated or been absorbed by the body, but had accumulated in the meridians.

  The Tianling Continent has a well-developed spiritual cultivation system, but it does not have concepts such as the Twelve Regular Meridians, Eight Extraordinary Vessels, and acupoints. With Nie Qingyang's strength of fusing with the Nine Ranks of Spiritual Souls, he had long discovered the existence of these spiritual forces within Nie Kong's body.

  He not only took action himself, but also asked a senior family member of the Royal Spirit level to help Nie Kong clear his body. Unfortunately, they didn't understand the cause and effect, often shattering one part of the spiritual power, and when they tried to manipulate other spiritual powers, the scattered spiritual powers would reassemble, resulting in futile efforts.

  Due to the abundance of spiritual energy between heaven and earth, people here rarely fall ill. Even if they do get sick, using spiritual energy can easily cure them. Diseases like Nie Kong's that even a master spiritualist cannot cure are terminal illnesses, and it's basically a death sentence. Therefore, almost everyone claims that Nie Kong will not live past eighteen years old, just like his older brother Nie Xing.

  "If one cultivates the 'Five Elements Shift' and ends up with blood stasis and a multitude of illnesses, that's normal. But if they were already weak and sickly before cultivating, then why is that? And what's more, what causes the spiritual energy to block the meridians?" Nie Kong muttered in puzzlement.

  Nie Kong's situation is the same as his, and he only lasted for eighteen years. The two brothers have the same symptoms, could it be hereditary? Nie Qingyang was very healthy, so it can only be passed down from their mother's side.

  Nie Kong was not clear about her situation, only knowing that her father Nie Qingyang had traveled out when he was young and returned home after several years with three-year-old Nie Man and infant Nie Kong. As for the children's mother, according to Nie Qingyang, she died in childbirth with Nie Kong, so Nie Kong was even weaker than Nie Man. Being able to live to the same age as her brother was a miracle.

  "It seems that the blockage of the meridians is not the main cause of the disease, but rather the root cause is what leads to the blockage." Nie Kong thought to himself. After a moment, he stopped deliberately searching for the cause of the disease and began to quietly cultivate "Wu Xing Niao Yi".

  The spiritual key flashed continuously from the heart, and the three orifices of the Ling Shen in the Dan Tian vibrated with a rich rhythm. The heavenly and earthly spiritual energy poured into the body like silk threads.

  Nie Kong was a Spirit Gathering First-Rate, and the cultivation method he used was also the most basic universal spirit technique. After the spiritual energy of heaven and earth entered, only an extremely small amount of wood spiritual energy elements would remain in the three spiritual orifices.

  In addition, Nie Kong's absorption speed was extremely slow, and most of the wood spirit power elements would dissipate. Less than 20% could be refined into his own use. At this speed, if it were someone else, they would have given up on cultivation long ago. Nie Kong persisted for ten years, and his willpower and endurance were evident.

  Time slowly passed by, Nie Kong was not in a hurry, his consciousness fully immersed in cultivation, carefully savoring the entry and dissipation of spiritual power...

  ——————————————————————————————————————————————

  In a daze, he felt footsteps entering the room, probably Huamei bringing in porridge. Nie Kong didn't stop cultivating, and the footsteps gradually faded away, light as a cat. Afterwards, there were several faint movements at the door, probably Huamei checking if he had woken up.

  Finally, a faint wisp of spiritual energy appeared in the empty Ling Shen San Jiao. At this moment, a strange power suddenly spread out from the blood vessels all over the body like a wave, and then the spiritual energy that had been painstakingly refined in the aperture slowly dissipated and merged into the meridians. The power was extremely weak, and if it weren't for Nie Kong's thorough understanding of the human body as a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, he wouldn't have noticed its origin at all.

  "Haha, finally found it!"

  Nie Kong's eyes suddenly snapped open, and he exclaimed in great joy, "Blood! The root of it all lies in the blood!"

  "Oh no."

  Hua Mei, who had tiptoed into the room, let out a startled cry like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. After regaining her composure, she saw Nie Kong staring at her in surprise, and her pale face turned bright red as she stammered: "Uncle, are you done with your cultivation? The porridge has gone cold, I'll get you another bowl."

  Nie Kong smiled wryly and said, "Sister-in-law, no need." The porridge bowl on the bedside table was still a bit warm. Nie Kong was really hungry and immediately transformed into a starving ghost reincarnation.

  Hua Mei secretly glanced over and saw Nie Kong wolfing down his food, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips, but she couldn't help saying: "Uncle, drink slowly, there's still some in the kitchen."

  A bowl of porridge down, Nie Kong's spirit was lifted a bit. After putting down the bowl, he suddenly remembered something very important: "Right, sister-in-law, how much money is left in our family?"

  "There are only forty-three gold coins left, Uncle. Will it be enough?"

  "That's enough, I estimate it'll take about twenty gold coins, I'll go get some medicine tomorrow." Nie Kong estimated that the price of gold here was far from being as expensive as in his previous life, and making nine golden needles wouldn't cost much.

  "Twenty gold coins, is it really that cheap?"

  Huāméi was incredulous, her small mouth agape. Those spiritual medicines refined by the spiritual masters were extremely expensive, previously costing several hundred, several thousand or even tens of thousands of gold coins at a time. Otherwise, the several tens of thousands of taels of condolence money after Father Nie Qingyang's death in battle would not have been spent so quickly.

  Looking at Hua Mei's silly appearance, Nie Kong burst out laughing: "Sister-in-law, you'll know tomorrow."

  "Oh."

  Hua Mei nodded blankly, but when she saw Nie Kong's brilliant smile, her face felt a little hot, and she hastily picked up the bowl and said, "Uncle, I'll go get another bowl of porridge."

  "Thank you, sister-in-law."

  Huā Méi quickly walked out of the room, her heart racing with a hint of panic. She didn't know why, but she felt that Niè Kōng was somehow different after waking up from his coma this time. The old Niè Kōng had always respected her, but when he spoke, it was always in a stiff and formal tone, never as gentle and warm as he was now; moreover, the old Niè Kōng had always been cold and icy, never smiling, yet today he had smiled more times than in the past three years combined.

  Although she felt a bit strange about her uncle now, compared to before, she still liked the current version of him... Thinking this way, Huamei's footsteps became even lighter...

  ……

  In the room, Nie Kong's expression became somewhat solemn.

  At this moment, he suddenly realized that in the instant before he felt the power in his blood vessels, the purple Luo Xuan fragrance seed between the three spiritual apertures had lightly trembled, and then his senses seemed to have become twice as sharp, which allowed him to discover the existence of that strange power.

  Is there some kind of connection between that power and the Violet Spirit Seed?

  ……